New Downtown Market creates opportunities and challenges for local food vendors

Grand Action and the Grand Rapids Downtown Market hosted a ceremonial ribbon-cutting, reception and 'sneak peek' tours to mark the grand opening of the Outdoor Market Shed, home to Grand Rapidsâ newest farmersâ market. The Outdoor Market will open to the public for the first time on Saturday, May 4, 2013. (Katy Batdorff | MLive.com)Katy Batdorf | Mlive Media Group

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – About 200 community leaders attended a ceremonial ribbon cutting on Monday, April 29, to herald the opening of the outdoor farmers market at the new Downtown Market, at 435 Ionia Ave. SW this Saturday, May 4.

As the dignitaries congratulated each other on creating a new magnet for foodies in West Michigan, food vendors like Crane Dance Farm of Middleville and Trillium Haven Farm of Jenison, were confronted with a new opportunity and a new challenge.

They are among 70 vendors who will occupy about 90 stalls in the new outdoor market when it opens from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 4.

Both also are longtime vendors at the Fulton Street Farmers Market. They wonder how many of their faithful customers from the old farmers market will shop instead at the new market.

“I’m going to be floating between the two,” said Michael Vanderbrug, owner of Trillium Haven Farm. “If one is slow and one is busy, I’ll move stuff from here to there.”

Vanderbrug, who has been selling homegrown vegetables and plants exclusively at the Fulton Street Farmers Market for 12 years and recently opened a restaurant in the city’s Eastown neighborhood, said he hopes both venues will thrive.

“I think they have so many loyal customers,” he said of the Fulton Street Farmers Market. “There’s definitely room for more.”

Mary Wills, co-owner of Crane Dance Farms, said she and her partner, Jill Johnson, believe both of the markets can succeed and grow.

“Convenience is a factor and parking is always a factor,” said Wills, who has been selling their grass-fed beef and lamb and pasture-raised pork and poultry at the Fulton Street Farmers Market for 11 years.

Birgit Klohs, president of Right Place Inc. and a resident of the city’s Northeast Side, said convenience will dictate if she shops at the East Fulton Street Market near her home or at the Downtown Market near her office.

The outdoor market will be open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesdays and Saturdays and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursdays until Nov. 30. From Dec. 1 through April, the outdoor market will be open only on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Saturday’s debut of the outdoor market marks the first phase of what will become a $30 million market that includes an indoor food emporium, a sit-down restaurant, a brew-pub, demonstration and educational kitchens, a banquet facility.

The remainder of the Downtown Market is expected to open in late summer, according to Market President Mimi Fritz.

Seven vendors have already announced their move to the indoor market and more announcements are expected this week. So far, the vendors include a coffee roaster, an artisan bakery, a homemade ice cream shop, a florist, a gourmet popcorn vendor, an olive oil vendor and a wine and cheese shop.